


Stories of the Second Self: In the Dead of Day

by John_Steiner



Series: Alter Idem [127]
Category: Police - Fandom, Urban Fantasy - Fandom, social justice - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:28:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22674835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Steiner/pseuds/John_Steiner
Summary: Despite being a law-abiding vampire, Dale Groneck has another unexpected visit from police in the middle of the day. The four cops demand access to Dale's backyard, where Dale sees what looks like a human body frozen to the back wall of his house.
Series: Alter Idem [127]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618813





	Stories of the Second Self: In the Dead of Day

You how fucked up things can be in this, what they call Alter Idem? It's months after I saw the feds and National Guard end their patrols of the streets. No more checkpoints, no house sweeps, or that phrase I'd been hearing; Extrajudicial Detentions.

Regular city government was back in charge. Cops in blue replaced soldiers in digital camo grey. People were getting used to the strange being the new normal, or so I thought.

My name's Dale Groneck, it's my weekend, and I'm a vampire, so I have a good excuse for sleeping in throughout the day. Just barely bought one of those polarized face shields, but the full tight-weave ski suit stuff was a bit pricey, so I have to stick with extra layers if I'm to go outside. That didn't matter when I heard 'that' Knock on my door.

If you're a howler or a nightcrawler you know the knock. We all had to get used to it for two years when SWAT, the Guard, or a combination of cops and soldiers turned up wanting answers to questions that take them ten to thirty minutes to start asking.

So, I got up and checked my clock. Sure as shit, it was eleven in the morning, which was pretty close to peak burn hour for me. The living have their witching hour and we have ours. I started scooping up clothing off the floor and yelled out, hoping they’d hear me through the door. "Just a minute!"

The Knock again. "Sir, you need to come talk to us right now."

"Yeah, I'm comin'," I called back, hustling on two pants, two pairs of socks, a shirt, a couple hoodies, and the face shield, before grabbing my wallet. "I don't wanna get cooked."

I used to hate winter, but with shorter days it became my favorite season. The feel of cold also didn't bother me, though not having my own body heat, I still had to be careful when it's a few degrees below freezing.

"Yeah?" I said, the second I swung the door open.

"Sir, I need you to take the face shield off," the first cop of four said while pointing.

Doing as told, I then asked, "What's this about?"

"Are you the resident of this house?" the cop asked.

At that moment, I realized one of the cops is an angel and the other standing behind the rest was a werewolf. Even in human form, you could spot the howlers. They got that kinda wolf mane pattern of scalp hair down the back and sides of their neck, though his was buzzed down.

"It's my house, yeah," I answered.

"What's your name?" the cop continued the questions.

"Dale," I replied with.

"Where's your ID?" the cop demanded.

Wallet in hand, I opened it within his view. I learned awhile ago not to move too quick or appear to be reaching into any place concealed. Passing over my ID for his inspection I repeated my question. "What's this about?"

Handing back my ID, the cop said, "Okay, you can cover your face, but I need you to let us into your backyard."

Confusing as that was, I shrugged and accepted it. There had been whispers about No-Knock raids resulting in vampires never being seen again, but to my knowledge none of them were burned down on their own property.

"Can I get my shoes?" I asked, ensuring they know I'm not trying to hide anything or escape out my own window.

"Yes," the cop nodded and didn't even demand entry to observe me.

So, I threw on my shoes and tucked the laces into the sides rather than tying them up, and returned to the front door. Walking outside, my steps crunched in the inch or so deep snow. The house I bought has a wooden slat fence for the back yard and one of those gates you just know signifies that the prior owner was retired and did gardening.

Opening that up, I led the cops around back. That was when I saw what got them all worked up. "The fuck is that?"

"You didn't know this was here?" the burly werewolf cop asked. "Is that your statement?"

"I saw the ice buildup on the corner of the window from inside, but not the rest," I answered and leaned in for a closer look. "I haven't been out back for a few weeks now."

"Sir, keep back please," the first cop insisted.

"Yeah, sorry, just was curious," I replied.

At this point I'd have expected one of those CSI moments, where they call in some forensics dude who starts examination onsite. But no, the bigger cop popped out a pocket tool, opened it up for a knife blade, and started chipping away at the ice.

The sound changed, and he remarked, "Human form for sure."

Then he cleared enough away that a shoulder is visible, and he gave the surface a few taps with the knife tip. Then he looked away with some exasperation. "It's plastic. It's nothin'."

"Like a mannequin?" the winged cop asked.

"Yeah, store mannequin," and then the howler cop turned to me thumbing at the ice-coated body. "You didn't know this was here?"

"Not a clue," I shrugged, and added, "Even if I were that kind of freak, I wouldn't be getting it on out here. Neighbors already don't like me as it is."

"Okay," the burly cop nodded, "Someone's idea of a prank," and then looked to me, "Do you want to file a complaint about this?"

"How likely would you be able to figure out who did it?" I asked.

"Pretty low, actually," the burly werewolf admitted, folding his arms.

"Ehh, sounds like more nonsense than you guys gotta put up with," I answered, "Don't worry about it."

"Okay sir," the first cop said, "Thank you for your time."

In a cluster they walked out, and I heard one of them chuckle. I'm not one of those pro-cop or anti-cop sorta people, but I kinda feel good that these guys got something funny to talk about at the station. Worth enough to be woken up in the dead of day.


End file.
